Chocolate Istanbul

In Türkiye, attention from abroad can make a product more desirable at home. Istanbul Chocolate used that insight to create the feeling of a global sensation before it reached shelves.

Sometimes, making people want something at home starts with showing them that people elsewhere have already discovered it. In Türkiye, international interest can give a new product instant appeal: if it keeps showing up in feeds around the world, perhaps there is something worth discovering.

That curiosity can quickly become urgency. People want to understand what everyone is talking about while they can still join the conversation. For a new chocolate, the opportunity was clear: could that feeling be created before the product was even available?

Istanbul Chocolate shaped its introduction around this idea. More than 100 influencers across roughly 60 countries posted about the chocolate in different languages, without revealing its name, packaging or flavour.

Audiences saw what appeared to be a worldwide phenomenon gathering momentum. The chocolate seemed to be making its way around the globe before consumers in Türkiye even knew what to call it. The mystery gave them a reason to look closer; its apparent popularity made them eager to catch up.

The reveal introduced Istanbul Chocolate as the product audiences had already encountered across their feeds. By the time it reached shelves, the campaign had already given people a reason to seek it out.

ROSWO developed the campaign for pladis, drawing on the connection between international attention and local desire.

“We wanted people to hear about the chocolate and think, ‘What am I missing?’ Usually, that kind of word of mouth comes later. Our plan was to start there, before the product even reached shelves, and build demand much faster,” said Onur Kutluer, Founder & ECD at ROSWO.

The case study reports 2.6 billion impressions worldwide, a viral score six times the category average and a 5.5% value market share within six weeks. At the heart of the launch was a simple idea: make discovering a new local product feel like catching up with a global trend.